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Chaplain's Corner

Chaplain’s Corner January 2022

Chaplain's Corner / By

God’s New Thing This Year

Isaiah 43:19 Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?

As we enter into this new year, it’s only natural to want to reflect back over the previous year and consider what was accomplished. That’s true in our professional life as well as our personal life. It’s also true in our spiritual life. How much time did I spend in God’s Word? How consistent was I in my prayer life? Did my giving reflect my heart for God? Was Sunday School/Worship a priority?

So? How was your spiritual life last year? And what changes are necessary to take it to the next level this year? What did you see God do this year? Not only in you and through you, but around you?

It is good to reflect on the last year. We can learn much from it. But if you continue dwelling on the old things God has done, you’re not going to see the new things God has planned for you in 2022. Focusing on the past tends to blur our focus on the future. In other words, it’s hard to see in front of you when you’re constantly looking behind you!

That’s what Paul was talking about in Philippians 3:13-14, ”Brethren, I do not count myself to have attained; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward calling of God in Christ Jesus.”

So let us not live in the past but look to the future. The key is to know God has “a new thing” for you in 2022. A ”new thing” that’s bigger, that’s better, that’s greater, that’s mightier than what you saw Him do last year in you, through you and around you.
Chaplain Tom Love

Chaplain’s Corner January 2022 Read More »

State of Florida

2022 Pending State Legislation

Legislative Update / By

2022 Pending State Legislation Affecting Service members and their Families who Reside in Florida

By Lt Col Bob Bienvenue, USAF, Ret., Legislative Chair

This legislation has been introduced during the preliminary work sessions of the Florida Legislature. The bills are to be considered by the assigned committees and voted on in the regular session of 2022: January 11th -March 11th.
The FCoC strategy for supporting these bills will be discussed at the Leadership Conference in January 2022.

SB 0358 Professional Counselors Licensure Compact Ana Maria Rodriguez; R-39
Creating the Professional Counselors Licensure Compact; providing for recognition of the privilege to practice licensed professional counseling in member states; specifying that licensees practicing in a remote state under the compact must adhere to the laws and rules of the remote state.

HB 0559 Occupational Licensure of Military Spouses Christine Hunschofsky; D-96 SB 0562 Military Occupational Licensure Janet Cruz; D-18
Requires DBPR or applicable board to expedite professional license applications submitted by spouses of active duty members of Armed Forces; requires DPBR to issue temporary professional licenses under certain circumstances; requires DOH or applicable board to issue professional license to spouses of active duty members of Armed Forces if certain requirements are met

SB 0430 Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children Tom Wright; R-14
HB 0153 Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children Thad Altman; R-52
Extends the scheduled repeal of the compact and related provisions (affecting Military Children enrolled in Florida schools)

SB 0896 Educator Certification Pathways for Veterans Danny Burgess; R-20
HB 0573 Educator Certification Pathways for Veterans John Snyder; R-82
Expands eligibility to seek educator certification to specified military servicemembers who have completed a specified education requirement; authorizing the Department of Education to issue a temporary certificate to specified military servicemembers who have completed a specified education requirement; specifying the duration of a temporary certificate for specified military servicemembers.

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Department of Veterans Affairs

Newly Enacted Service-Connected Benefits

Veteran Benefits / By

Dear Veteran,
You may be eligible for newly enacted service-connected benefits.

Over the course of the last six months, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has begun processing service-connected disability claims for six new presumptive conditions related to environmental exposures during military service. We request your help in making more Veterans aware of these newly added presumptive conditions to help them file a claim and obtain any earned benefits.

In May 2021, VA started implementing provisions of the William M. Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (NDAA), adding bladder cancer, hypothyroidism and Parkinsonism to the list of medical conditions presumptively associated with exposure to Agent Orange. A few months later VA added asthma, rhinitis and sinusitis (to include rhinosinusitis) on a presumptive basis based on particulate matter exposures during military service in Southwest Asia and certain other areas.

Any Veteran who was previously denied service-connection for any of these six conditions but had symptoms manifest within
10 years of military service would need to file a supplemental claim. Be sure to use VA Form 20-0995, Decision Review Request: Supplemental Claim when filing. The claim form should include the name of the condition and specify that the condition is being claimed due to in-service exposure to environmental hazards.

VA is committed to assisting Veterans who may have been exposed to hazardous materials during their military service.

Be sure to stay plugged in to www.va.gov for the most recent developments around environmental exposures during military service, as VA is constantly conducting research and surveillance as well as reviewing scientific literature for conditions that may be related to exposure during military service.

For more information about VA benefits and eligibility, or how to file a claim, Veterans and survivors can visit VA’s website at www.va.gov or call toll-free at 1-800-827-1000.

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Chaplain's Corner

Chaplain’s Corner

Chaplain's Corner / By

Soren Kierkegaard, the great Danish theologian of another century, tells a story of a prince who wanted to find a maiden suitable to be his queen. One day while running an errand in the local village for his father, he passed through a poor section. As he glanced out the windows of the carriage his eyes fell upon a beautiful peasant maiden.

During the ensuing days he often passed by the young lady and soon fell in love. But he had a problem. How would he seek her hand?

He could order her to marry him. But even a prince wants his bride to marry him freely and voluntarily and not through coercion. He could put on his most splendid uniform and drive up to her front door in a carriage drawn by six horses. But if he did this he would never be certain that the maiden loved him or was simply overwhelmed with all of the splendor.

As you might have guessed, the prince came up with another solution. He would give up his kingly robe. He moved, into the village, entering not with a crown but in the garb of a peasant.

He lived among the people, shared their interests and concerns, and talked their language.

In time the maiden grew to love him for who he was and because he had first loved her.

This very simple, almost childlike story, written by one of the most brilliant minds of our time explains what we Christians mean by the incarnation. God came and lived among us.

I am glad that this happened for two reasons. First, it shows beyond a shadow of a doubt that God is with us, that He is on our side, and that He loves us.

And second, it gives us a firsthand view of what the mind of God is really all about. When people ask what God is like, we, as Christians, point to the person of Jesus Christ. God himself is incomprehensible. But in Jesus Christ we get a glimpse of His glory. In the person of Jesus we are told that God, that mysterious Person that created the stars and the universe, is willing to go all of the way, to be one of us, talk our language, eat our food, share our suffering, die on a cross. Why? So that a single person-you, me, might be redeemed…and, grow to love Him.

May I submit to you, the incarnation of God-in the form of Jesus Christ, is the most amazing miracle that has ever taken place…that God came and lived among us. I do not confess to understand it, nor can I really explain it, but I can tell you this, I believe it.

Enjoy the miracle of Christmas this year.

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Congress Gov

Legislative Updates

Legislative Update / By

CVS will rejoin the TRICARE pharmacy network as of Dec. 15, while Walmart/Sam’s Club will leave the network at the same time, Express Scripts officials told MOAA. With the change, military families will have access to the two largest chain drugstores in the U.S. – Walgreens and CVS – together with many smaller chains and independent pharmacies. Ask Your Lawmakers to Support the Major Richard Star Act. Senators Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) have introduced the Major Richard Star Act as an amendment to the NDAA – Senate Amendment 3984 to H.R. 4350 would support over 48,000 combat injured with medical retired pay and VA disability payments concurrently. Under current law, these combat injured (and often seriously disabled) veterans are subject to an offset where their medical retirement pay is reduced for every dollar of VA disability received. Servicemembers forced to retire because they were injured in combat – like Maj. Richard Star, USAR, who passed away earlier this year – had their retirement pay significantly reduced. The Comforting our Military Families through On-base or Remote Treatment (COMFORT) Act (S. 3021/H.R. 5758) would seek to Improve License Portability for Military Family Counselors. The COMFORT Act will help reduce the shortage of behavioral health providers and better equip DoD to meet the demand for counseling services for military families. With increased license portability, MFLC counselors will have increased flexibility to respond to local traumatic events, natural disasters, or redeployment of multiple units to one military ba

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DOD Seal

Defense Dept Announces Cost of Living Increase Retired Pay

Military / By

The Department of Defense announced annual cost of living adjustments that will benefit military retirees and survivors during calendar year 2022. Most military retirees will receive a 5.9 percent increase to their retired pay beginning with the pay they receive on January 1, 2022, which is the largest such increase since 1982. Likewise, survivors of members who died on active or inactive duty, or survivors of military retirees who participated in the Survivor Benefit Plan will, in most cases, see a 5.9 percent increase to their annuities beginning in January.
Survivors who are eligible for the Special Survivor Indemnity Allowance (SSIA) will also receive an increase to their SSIA payments that reflects this 5.9 percent adjustment. The maximum amount of SSIA payable will be $346 beginning in January, although some survivors may receive less in SSIA as the Department of Defense continues to implement the phased reduction in the Survivor Benefit Plan – Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) offset, as enacted by the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020.
These cost of living adjustments are calculated based on the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers for the four quarters ending with the third calendar quarter of 2021 (July, August, and September 2021), and generally go into effect for all pay received beginning in January 2022.
Those military retirees who retired during calendar year 2021, and all military retirees who retired under the REDUX retirement system may receive a slightly different annual cost of living adjustment. The complete list of updates to military retired and retainer pay, and survivor annuities, allowances, and premiums can be found at https://militarypay.defense.gov/Pay/Retirement/Cola.aspx.

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